Mitsubishi L200: Black is the new, er, black

Mitsubishi has introduced a pricier version of its L200, featuring black detailing.

We can remember the time when the economy version of a car had grey or black bumpers and you had to pay extra for body-coloured ones (the first Ford Ka, for example). Now black bumpers are so rare, Mitsubishi has decided it can charge extra for them.

The Mitsubishi comes with all the currently fashionable black items, such as alloy wheels and black wrapped roof. Our favourite addition is carbon-effect leather seats – presumably the normal black leather was just not black enough. We all remember Henry Ford's aphorism, "Any colour you like, so long as it is black", but we tend to forget why he said it. He found that black dried slightly quicker than other colours of the time (no longer true today), so he could produce black cars quicker and cheaper.

You could try that argument with your local Mitsubishi dealer staff, but they are unlikely to be convinced. Mitsubishi wants £1,000 extra for the Black edition. The appeal probably depends on your age. If you are young enough not to have known black-everything on poverty-spec Escorts and Astras, you might well think black detailing is cool.